SW Short wave is the way to go in case of emergency.
You need a long antenna, outside, but you already got that.
And FM (frequency modulation) is still present in Germany, all the bigger broadcasters are still active, from NDR to DLF; and Radio21 :D
You cannot rely on DAB/DAB+ or the internet, if all really goes wrong. Or you need a satellite system, but this is too expensive and probably not portable.
I have an older Sony radio for use during sailing, it is good enough, but needs AAA batteries. You cannot have enough of those in case of an emergency, but you also cannot store them forever.
An older good Radio with an elongated/prolonged(?) antenna and enough batteries is better than the new small emergency ones.
If you use Panasonic 'eneloop' rechargeable AAA accumulators they will last for 2+ years without reloading – if it does not get too cold. Reloading them via solar panels works like a charm.
Do not use metal-hydrid ones, they have a good high energy output but do not last long withour reloading. Speaking about three months storing time (without use) or so when new. Experience with those was not well.

Thanks. I still have a Sony ICF-SW12. Its good if you clip a wire to the telescope antenna, also it is small, the Sangean is quite big, you do not pack that in your Rucksack. But the new Sangean beats it hands down. Well, it costed 2.5 times as much, so... Also, the Sony has only UKW, SW, MW, no LW and no AIR like the Sangean.

A tip for batteries, if longevity and performance even in low temperatures are a concern: Energizer Lithium. Beats hands down everything in AAA and AA batteries I ever have used, but are more expensive. I use them in the squqirrel cam outside, and especially in winter they make a very huge difference to normal good batteries. They last longer, in summer I would estimate 1.5 times longer, in winter with temps around 5 to -2°: even 2-3 times longer than normal batteries. And their shelf lives is counted not in years but decades.

As a sailor and on high sea, you may want to consider them as an iron reserve. I occasionally read tests about them, with more in detail descriptions of their characteristics, they not only beat normal Alkaline batteries, but also Lithium batteries of other producers.

I buy them in bigger numbers at Amazon, but even at Amazon they are currently more expensive than usual. I recommend to be selective what to use them for. Currently you can get offers of around 2,10 per AA, in better times last year I often got them for 1,20 per AA. For my wildlife cam they are ideal.

On antennas, it seems that in SW you best use long wire antennas, but in MW and LW you seem to need T-arays and loop antennas which if you transmit yourself even need to be tailored to the frequency you intend to use. I am not into all that. I will look in my cellar and find some old T-wire antenna that I still must have somewhere, and see what it will do. I also read about frame antennas. But I admit I did not really memorize or understand all what all the talk was about. For my purpose I intend to keep it simple: emergency, short wave, thrown wire antenna, period. That I get plenty of British MW stations, mostly BBC apparently (I have no clue how radio is organised in the UK but I often listen to Smooth Radio London on internet), is a bonus. If Germany all turns into a burning crater after the moon fell down , its good to have them there, calm and unexcited. :D

I tested again, with a loudspeaker wire I found (edit: to be precise: a double litz wire/stranded wire in transparent PVC coating), a length of around 7m. I split the two wires and attached the loose ends, winning around 14m in total length, then attached the 7m thin wire that came with the radio, that way, having over 20m in the end.

I spun this in a double-S pattern (I mean an S with additional U-turn: forth and back and forth and back and forth) across my loggia/balcony, over an area of approx. 4.5m x 1.3m, then used the remaining cable length to get it inside. Then I tried it all out during night, around 1-2 a.m. LOC, simply clipped to the telescope antenna of the radio.

Wowh, that was a headjump into another world. The number of stations I receive this way has multiplied by several factors, and on MW many of them, from the UK, are surprisingly clear. On shortwave I got plenty of stuff too, mostly from Asia, two news programs identified themselves as something from Canada, it seems a few foreign language European stations, some American ones: half of them bible stuff. Only a few signals on LW, however. FM was as crispy as if it were DAB+. I did not try different antenna designs like frame or loop antennas, just the simply linear wire spun like described above. And: higher is better.

It really makes a huge difference to increase the wire length. Do it, even if you think those some meters you already have hanging outside were already much. It never is enough! :D Also, the stuff must be outside, not inside the house.

Its good to have many such programs in English from far away. Receiving Asian programs is nice for the stats and scores, but it would not help me at all if I could not understand them...


So add to your prepper list: not just a short and medium wave radio, but also 20m of suitable wire (I read there is nothign wrong to have the wire up to 70m long if you are in for short wave. Note that some other wave bands seem to prefer or even command certain antenna geometry and precise wire lengths for specific frequencies being taken into account: every frequency needing another antenna length.).

Antennas should be cut to a half or quarter wave length of the radio frequency range that one wants to pick up. Blindly increasing the length might work, or it might not.

The composition of the ground below also factors in as does antenna height.

Learn more here:

https://www.radioworld.com/industry/antenna-basics

^ yep, thanks!

You speaking of batteries, not accumulators?
I take it you mean batteries like these: (?)
https://www.akkuline.de/test/energiz...a-test-messung

Meanwhile also bought a 'Feuerhand' baby petroleum lamp (had a cheaper chinese one that leaked and now finally ditched that)

Waiting for a new wood stove, living 'in the woods' there is no shortage of burning material so it looks like the obvious choice.
The existing older stove is not longer allowed in Germany due to environment regulations. I told the chimney sweeper to stuff it before we freeze. New one ordered in july '22, estimated delivery now february '23.
Early enough to use it in summer :wah:

Yes to both. These are hands down the best batteries I ever have come across. Currently quite expensive, however. As I said: one better is selective regarding their use. For many purposes they are not needed, are overkill.
There are lithium accumulators in AA and AAA format as well, since a few years. Higher capacity than Eneloops, but lifespan is questionable with many models, it seems.


Congrats, I just love these.

Leaking: Most cases of leaking Feuerhands is due to overfilling them, or leaving the wick too far out when the lamp is dark. Read here:

https://www.petroleumlaterne.com/de/...Feuerhand.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tOLPwwv7D8&t=393s

Fascinating how simple these things are built, and yet superior to an open-burning petroleum lamp (full-glass table lamps, for example): a correctly adjusted Feuerhand hand does not soot, does not consume the wick, burns with an absolutely calm flame no matter the wind, normal other open petroleum lamps soot very much.
Since I measure the petroleum separately when filling and empty the tank beforehand, I no longer have any problems with creeping petroleum smear on the lamp.

Noch 'ne Feuerhand! ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKj65dl6Tvw


Proven: Feuerhands are unkaputtbar!

man kriegt alles wieder hin :03:


Meanhile i saw this .. be prepared :D
The REAL zombie apocalypse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhkMBl4AqHM

Completely escaped my radar so far, but that has changed: if still looking for light sources, consider this economic as well as efficient solution! They are brighter than I expected, though I should have been warned from my high quality LED torchlights.

Combine a powerbank with small LED lamps that are plugged into the USB port. 20-25 Euros, and you have light for weeks with one charge.

I just tested it with a new 10,000 mAh powerbank and a tiny warm-white LED light that was as bright as several candles or two petroleum lamps at medium flame - and that LED-powerbank combo burnt for almost precisely four days and four nights, in the end it were 94 hours, without break.

I got two such powerbanks, 10K mAh, of good quality, in an Amazon sale for 17 Euros. Do not forget that you can get such powerb banks with 20,000 and even 28,000 mAh for 25-30 Euros already.

I bought twenty small lamps like these - for a total of 7 Euros.




https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/...AC_SL1000_.jpg


Or use these (even brighter, but drawing some more power):


https://testie.de/wp-content/uploads...ach-gesamt.jpg
The yget hot, and come in two colours, cold-.white and warm white. The warm white are really very, very good. And bright. With two of these popinted at the ceiling, my living room, 25 sqm, is fully lit.

And then these, which really replace ordinary light bulbs' brightness:


https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/...AC_SL1423_.jpg
Practical, economic, enduring, and cost-efficient! :yeah: With a 20K powerbank, the lamp I tested with would have lived longer than one week (short of 8 days), and if you consider you burn it only 6-8 hours a day/night, maybe, then you are into the range of 3-4 weeks - close to one month.

Light quality of these devices differ greatly, mainly between cold blue-ish-white (terrible light these make in living rooms), and warm-white (not like the old halogen light, but better than the cold white LEDs, some offer really good colour quality now). Some really get surprisingly bright. Some stay cool, some get quite hot - since they are cheap, it makes sense to get a reserve of them, a handful, not just two or three. They often even get sold in bigger numbers.


P.S. It makes sense to have a solar accumulator (or a Diesel :) ). And if you have, it makes sense to have several much smaller powerbanks as well. Just to distrubute your light options across more area, more rooms, more places. What I descirbed aboive, is a cheap but well-working solution.


I seriously ask myself what took me this long to get this idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DANTP2n8x3c

A nice series from Lindy Beige, but this vid also points out some basics for this thread.

:Kaleun_Salute:

-If you want to pack some kit, MAKE SURE you know how to use it. If you're trying to figure out how to remove the packaging so you can find the instruction manual, you're only wasting time. Having a tourniquet in your first aid pack is almost as important as knowing how to use it. :yep:

- Don't bring a bridle and saddle to a dog show. :up: In the case of a bail-out bag, MAKE SURE what you have in it will be useful at some point.
Having a nifty laser-reflector fire starter is useless if you can't find wood to burn. :yep: Having stuff that looks cool is fine, if its only going to take up space it will also weigh you down.
How do you know what is essential and what is dead weight? Practice. :up:

This rocket kettle looks pretty useful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tet2xF6OkUA

https://www.amazon.com/Witty-Dehydra...72L38SGT&psc=1


Why didn't I think this one up? :Kaleun_Mad:

O look, the rocket stove met a water bath cooker and they had a baby together!

:D :haha: :har:

https://www.amazon.com/Prank-Pack-Fi...0757WW6KB&th=1



:yeah: